Passenger numbers at HIAL saw another rise in July, with the region’s hub airport of Inverness recording a massive 29% increase compared to July 2003.

The total number of passengers at the 10 airports reached 101,564 in July, a 12.5% increase on the July 2003 total.

A total of 59,198 passengers travelled through Inverness Airport in July, 29% up on July 2003’s total and 50% more than in July 2002. July was the airport’s busiest ever month, breaking the record set in June 2004 when just over 52,500 passengers flew via the airport.

Year on year passenger growth for the month of July was also recorded at Barra (14%), Campbeltown (15%), Islay (6%), Stornoway (1%), Tiree (18%) and Wick (2%).

Total aircraft movements at the 10 airports in July amounted to 7,882, a 3% increase on July 2003.

A total of 367,353 passengers have used the airports from the beginning of April to the end of July 2004, an 11% increase on the 329,915 total for the first four months of the previous operating year.

Inverness is one of the UK ’s fastest growing airports with passengers expected to reach close to 600,000 in the current operating year. Annual passenger volumes have increased from 347,000 in 1999/00 to 484,000 in 2003/04. In March 2004 the airport regained a Heathrow link, operated by bmi, reversing an industry trend of more than a decade where access to the UK ’s principal international hub from regional airports had been steadily eroded. The previous Inverness - Heathrow route, operated by BA, stopped in 1997.

The airport provides daily direct air links to: London (Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton airports), Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland. British Airways, Loganair, bmi, easyJet, Eastern Airways and Highland Airways all operate scheduled services from Inverness.

Bob Macleod, Managing Director of HIAL, said: “July has been an excellent month for us with Inverness in particular performing exceptionally well. If current growth rates are maintained we can realistically expect nearly 600,000 passengers this year at Inverness and a total of one million for the 10 airports.

“There can be no doubt that aviation plays an increasingly important role in this region and that more people are choosing to take advantage of the expanding network of routes at our airports. This is good for the communities and the economy, especially as we see increasing numbers of leisure travellers arriving on cross-border services into Inverness.”

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited – Total Passenger Movements July 2004

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited – Passenger Figures 1999/00 to 2003/04

ENDS